Mike Bailey

Truth about Edinburgh Gardens NYE

What happens when more 15,000 revellers converge on an inner city Melbourne
park to ring in the new year with no perimeter fencing, byo drugs/alcohol and
just 12 police officers on duty?

A potential horror story of violence and destruction didn’t eventuate but
this hasn’t stopped the media from describing it as such.

There are over different 15,000 versions of NYE in Edinburgh Gardens 2014 and I
suspect most people had a pretty fun time. The fact it turned out to be a
largely peaceful celebration despite the absence of any effective crowd
control seems both newsworthy and worthy of further discussion.

Ms Fristacky says local residents had varied views of the New Year’s Eve
party. “Quite a few residents who attended said it was a great night, they
enjoyed it, it was 20,000 people mostly peaceful, yes there were some
incidents, but they were isolated.”

Reading between the lines, the night sounds a bit like a night at an open air
music festival like Meredith or Golden Plains. Events like these show us that
while we will never be completely rid of dickheads, most people want to be good
to each other.

Misrepresentation of the evening and villification it’s participants has spread
righteous indignation far beyond residents of the parks gentrified surrounds.
Yarra Council is now facing increased pressure to crack down on park users.

‘Trash’ing the Gardens

We were told the park was trashed. While this brings thoughts of vandalism and
permanent damage, reporters were actually referring to litter, most of which
was all picked up and removed by Council staff and volunteers by sunset on 1
Jan.

Now don’t get me wrong, there was a whole lot of litter. The place was a mess
but one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and the indignation inspiring
imagery was media gold for the evening news and daily papers.

What kind of people would do this?

“inadequate lighting and excessive crowding also appeared to dissuade people
from using the rubbish bins and toilet facilities provided, with significant
complaints about public urination;”

Music festivals like Meredith and Golden Plains see attendees cleaning up the
mess from the night before when the sun rises.

Fence Climbing

Climbing can be fun but the recently installed tennis court fences aren’t very
strong. The top bars slipped under the weight of people climbing on them. The
Herald Sun reported this as vandalism. By these standards your
average two year old is a wanton vandal.

Darwin was Right

Casualties

Ambulance staff set up an emergency triage area in the park, where they
treated about 20 people.

Most were treated for alcohol-related problems, while others suffered cuts
from broken glass in the park.

I don’t think anyone has worked out a solution to dickheads but MMF try:

Festivals at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre have a No Dickhead Policy.

Essentially this is a self-policing policy whereby ‘the dickhead’ is not
celebrated at the festival. Dickheads or people involved in dickhead
behaviour will usually find that a solid citizen will firmly but politely
inform them that their dickhead behaviour is not admired or appreciated. The
Dickhead will usually realise they are being a dickhead and pull their head
in. If not, our Helpers or Staff or even Security might make a discreet
intervention.